We are open to considering if any factors are new and will make recommendations for future management on that basis. The consultation in summer 2025 will gauge public opinion on the closure in light of the best available evidence on environmental and socioeconomic factors to help us understand relative impacts to date, as well as those forecasted should the closure be maintained in the future.

We will also be publishing a report on the 2024 closure in due course which will contribute to the available consultation package.

a) Ministerial travel costs are routinely published online three months in arrears and in line with the Scottish Ministerial Code: 2018 edition - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) This can be found at: Ministerial engagements, travel and gifts - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

b) The following table outlines how much has been spent on travel by civil servants working in the Constitution Directorate of the Scottish Government in each year since 2021:

Where a publicly funded resident under the National Care Home Contract qualifies for transport from the NHS to attend for a clinical appointment/ treatment the provider will, where practicable, ensure this is arranged. For the avoidance of doubt, the cost of providing transport for the resident to and from scheduled medical appointments, as well as emergency admissions to hospital are not covered in the Council’s Approved Rate and are not therefore the responsibility of the provider where they are being paid that rate.

In the absence of free provision by the NHS, transport to the following may also be provided, but shall be charged in addition to the price charged for care and accommodation:

• Chiropody
• Opticians
• Dentistry
• Physiotherapy
• Transportation
  and Staff escorts to and from medical appointments

Any private contract between a self-funded resident and a care home may include provision for such transport.

Should the Scottish Ambulance Service be contacted, to provide consistency, all patients are taken through the Patient Needs Assessment (PNA) to assess their eligibility for ambulance transport. SAS ask the PNA questions to allow them to fully understand the patient’s needs and to confirm if they require ambulance transport. From this, SAS can then identify the correct resource required. If the caller indicates the patient can get out and about independently or can travel with the assistance of an escort, SAS will seek to understand what is preventing them from getting to their appointment. If there is a clear clinical or medical need, SAS will look to support this request; otherwise, patients will be signposted to alternative transport options specific to where a patient resides. SAS will always ask that if a patient is able to use other means of transport, this is considered the first choice rather than the Scottish Ambulance Service. A patient or representative is advised at the beginning of the call that if they disagree with their decision then they can ask for their request for transport to be put to appeal and this will be answered by a SAS supervisor.

There is no statutory process for either scenario.

Subject to the agreement of both parties, any owner-occupier who wishes to sell their home to a local authority and remain in it as a tenant in the social rented sector may do so.

If there is already a private tenancy in place, prior to any purchase there could be some negotiation and agreement with the sitting tenant in order to bring their private tenancy with their existing landlord to an end so that they may enter into a social tenancy when the property is purchased by the local authority.

The Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 provides that repairs and maintenance work will be carried out according to the provisions in the relevant title deeds of the properties.

Where homeowners have workable provisions in their title deeds to carry out maintenance and repair then these should be followed. Where title deeds do not specify how decisions should be made, or if different owners' title deeds say conflicting things and are therefore unworkable, the Tenement Management Scheme (TMS) in Schedule 1 Rule 2 of the 2004 Act sets out procedures for flat owners to follow when making scheme decisions about maintaining and repairing common parts of a shared building.

Rules 7 and 8 already set out the requirements for consultation, and rule 9 sets out the procedure for giving notice in connection with the TMS.

More detail is here: Tenements (Scotland) Act 2004 (legislation.gov.uk)

The Scottish Government school estate statistics are collected and published annually at: School education statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The number of schools refurbished since April 2021 is (a) 88 in primary and (b) 13 in secondary. Only projects with a cost of at least £500,000 for primary and £1m for secondary have been included.

To date, 9 school infrastructure projects have opened through the £2bn Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP). Furthermore, 16 projects are currently in construction.

The LEIP aims to deliver 47 projects by the end of 2027-28.

As reflected in Scotland’s Cancer Strategy for Scotland, published June 2023, we are committed to “expanding and evaluating Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services (RCDS) to ensure population-based coverage”.

To date, we have five fully operational RCDSs across NHS Scotland, with our Programme for Government committing to establish a sixth service in 2024/25.

The University of Strathclyde’s independent evaluation provided an incredibly positive assessment of the Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Service innovation, as they are finding cancer faster.

The Scottish Government and the whole of the public sector faces a financial position that is extremely challenging. The utmost importance is placed on balancing the Scottish Government’s budget each financial year, and it is always necessary to ensure resources are used economically, efficiently, and effectively, and increased additional scrutiny is being applied to expenditure.

Despite financial pressures, colleagues in the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) continue to work with territorial health boards and regional networks across Scotland to embed the learning from the University of Strathclyde’s evaluation report and support them to develop full business cases.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) provides annual advice on the population of Northern Shelf cod which currently includes the West of Scotland (6a) and the Clyde areas.

During the 2024 closure we enhanced our data collection in the Clyde and intend to share those findings and reflections on monitoring of the closure with stakeholders when available. We intend to continue the data collection programme in 2025. This along with the ICES advice will contribute to the evidence base and help inform a consultation on future management measures.

We work closely with partners, including through the Older People’s Strategic Forum (OPSAF) on a range of issues related to age equality. This includes the Strategic Action Framework ‘A Fairer Scotland for Older People’, in which Ensuring Financial Security is a priority area. We are running a number of Roundtables throughout Scotland to hear from older people and older people's organisation as part of the refresh of the Framework.

We support projects that enable older people to live independent and fulfilling lives. Our Equality and Human Rights Fund provides over £2.2M to support older people’s organisations and age equality projects and programmes. We also launched a £3.8m Social Isolation and Loneliness Fund on 8 March 2023 which funds 53 projects supporting people at risk of social isolation and loneliness.